Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Thousands petition Perry for Kerry Max Cook pardon

More than 32,000 people have signed an online petition urging Governor Rick Perry and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to pardon Kerry Max Cook, who was falsely convicted of murder in Tyler, was cleared by DNA after 20 years on death row, but has never been formally exonerated. From the petition:

The case against me was based entirely on circumstantial evidence.
Over the years, every piece of evidence used to convict me was revealed
to be bogus.The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the
prosecution had suppressed evidence that showed I was innocent in
order to build their case against me.

Thirteen years after my innocence was proven and I was
released from prison, the state of Texas still has
not judicially exonerated me.

I was tried for this murder nearly four times. Despite an Appellate
ruling throwing out my second conviction with findings that “Police and prosecutorial misconduct has tainted this entire matter from the outset,” the Smith County District Attorney’s Office was more interested in saving face than justice.

Unwilling to drop the charges against me, on the eve of my
fourth trial, prosecutors offered a plea-bargain: plead no-contest with no admission of guilt,
and go free. By this time my only brother had been murdered, my Dad had
died of cancer, and my mother had abandoned me. Additionally, I was
unable to overcome the police and prosecutorial misconduct that
prevented me from being found not guilty. I took the offer and walked out of the courtroom. But I have never been free.

Two months later, DNA evidence proved my innocence.

Because I pleaded no-contest to the murder, I cannot be declared
actually innocent unless the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
recommends to Governor Rick Perry that I be pardoned and Texas Governor
Rick Perry agrees and sets me free.

Without being exonerated, I feel I am still in a Texas prison.

Please sign my petition and ask the Texas Board of Pardons and
Paroles to recommend to Texas Governor Rick Perry that I be pardoned and
finally set free from my mental prison sentence now in its 35th year.

Don136, standing in your shoes I'm sure its very easy to judge Cook's decision. But, try, if you can, to think about it from the shoes he was standing in. He had spent 20 years on death row being raped and suffering other abuse. His father and brother had died during that time. He spent most of his 20s and 30s on death row. He had been through 3 trials and each time the prosecution had committed egregious misconduct to convict him. Then, he's offered a choice; plead no contest in a deal that lets you maintain your innocence and go home with time served. Facing the prospect of going to trial again against prosecutors who have repeatedly demonstrated they will do anything to win, what would you do?

This man must have a lot of inner strength and faith to continue on, to have gone through what he has had to endure. Being innocent and or not guilty, makes it all that much more a crime against him. I hear it's the norm, I know it is because I am trying to find help for my Minor Child in Texas Prison convicted of murder. EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE WITHHELD, http://www.brycesbattle.blogspot.comMy blog has a petition also, this is happening in your community.

Hey Mr. Cook, we were happy to sign the petition. Hopefully with Grits posting this piece you’ll obtain another 32K. Since a Full Pardon - for innocence is a prerequisite to receive rightfully owed compensation, I completely understand and support your endeavors.

But, from one (VOTS) victim of the system to another, I implore you to pray for the best and not place all of your hopes and dreams on the outcome. The goofballs in the Clemency Section are handpicked lackeys with orders to maintain the loopholes and hurdles. The most bazaar being for the Applicant to obtain the unanimous recommendations from the three original trial officials; (Sheriff, Prosecutor & Judge whom all have absolutely no incentives to admit roles in a conspiracy).

The appointed Board Members suffer from Texas sized power trips and systematically deny from the comfort & secrecy of their own homes. Sadly, Governor Perry has a dismal record of righting wrongs (See GFB Archives). A Pardon de-void of an apology isn't worth the paper it's written on and it alone will not free you from the mental prison. (I’ve been living with ‘it’ since 84 and rec. two denials since 99 & promise you that ‘it’ lasts forever due to being one of effects of an unjust cause). No amount of money or framed documents can cure PTSD. FWIW, the entire state of Texas knows you are not guilty; Pardon or no Pardon, the taxpayers and voters will forever be in your debt.

In addition to this petition campaign, consider requesting a Full Public Apology - based on innocence. The ‘Applicant’ (VOTS) simply presents proof of his /her innocence directly to the Governor’s Office via; Certified Mail, and Return Receipt services and request it (FPA) to accompany an official Full Pardon – for innocence presentation during a public press release format. Thanks.

The powerful establishment in Smith County will stop at nothing to conceal their corruption. Many of the players who executed this fiasco are still running the Smith County legal system: http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20120410/NEWS08/120419997

"I always tell people interested in these issues that your blog is the most important news source, and have had high-ranking corrections officials tell me they read it regularly."

- Scott Medlock, Texas Civil Rights Project

"a helluva blog"

- Solomon Moore, NY Times criminal justice correspondent

"Congrats on building one of the most read and important blogs on a specific policy area that I've ever seen"

- Donald Lee, Texas Conference of Urban Counties

GFB "is a fact-packed, trustworthy reporter of the weirdness that makes up corrections and criminal law in the Lone Star State" and has "shown more naked emperors than Hans Christian Andersen ever did."

-Attorney Bob Mabry, Conroe

"Grits really shows the potential of a single-state focused criminal law blog"

- Corey Yung, Sex Crimes Blog

"I regard Grits for Breakfast as one of the most welcome and helpful vehicles we elected officials have for understanding the problems and their solutions."

Tommy Adkisson,Bexar County Commissioner

"dude really has a pragmatic approach to crime fighting, almost like he’s some kind of statistics superhero"

- Rob Patterson, The Austin Post"Scott Henson's 'Grits for Breakfast' is one of the most insightful blogs on criminal justice issues in Texas."

- Texas Public Policy Foundation

"Nobody does it better or works harder getting it right"

David Jennings, aka "Big Jolly"

"I appreciate the fact that you obviously try to see both sides of an issue, regardless of which side you end up supporting."

Kim Vickers,Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and EducationGrits for Breakfast "has probably broken more criminal justice stories than any TX reporter, but stays under the radar. Fascinating guy."

Maurice Chammah,The Marshall Project"unrestrained and uneducated"

John Bradley,Former Williamson County District Attorney, now former Attorney General of Palau

"our favorite blog"

- Texas District and County Attorneys Association Twitter feed"Scott Henson ... writes his terrific blog Grits for Breakfast from an outhouse in Texas."